July 2025

Welcome to the heart of Summer 2025. It's hard to believe we’ve already celebrated July 4th and are now in prime time for barbecue, frozen cocktails, and outdoor dining. This is either high season or quiet time for NYC foodservice businesses, depending on locations and style. We hope that, either way, you use the season to your advantage. 

We’re very proud to note that our First Course NYC restaurant cook training program is now in its 17th session, continuing to deliver professional culinary training and placement in respected, full-service NYC restaurant kitchens to qualified New Yorkers. And also happy to share that what we’ve learned from our work with these restaurant training partners resulted in our NYC Restaurant Hiring, Onboarding, and Training Playbook – now available online to businesses citywide. 

Wishing you all a month of filled seats, happy guests, and profitable results!  

Steven Picker & Rosanne Martino

NYC Food and Beverage Industry Partnership at SBS

Stay Up To Date

Important Industry Update: Advance Notification of NYC Health Annual Restaurant Inspections

All NYC restaurants will now get two email alerts before annual inspections from the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). 

1st email: about 1 - 5 months in advance  

2nd email: about 3 - 6 weeks in advance

Each email alert (coming from noreply@newsletters.nyc.gov) includes information to help you prepare for your inspection so you can achieve an A grade and avoid fines: 

• a self-inspection checklist
• a fact sheet on the most common violations and how to avoid them
• a link to order your personalized, free Inspection History Report  
• information about Food Protection Certificate training

You can also contact SBS’s NYC Business Express Service Team (NYC BEST) for free, one-on-one compliance support at any time, and especially before your inspection.  

Note: It is important that you have the most current email address on file with DOHMH to ensure receipt of these advance notification emails. To change the email address for your business that is on file with DOHMH, complete this form.

The NYS Restaurant Meal Program allows some Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card to buy prepared meals at participating restaurants. This program is designed to serve SNAP recipients who may not have access to food preparation or storage resources or may be unable to prepare meals for themselves.

Additional Resources

Unlock Free Advertising Secrets with LinkNYC

Learn the fundamentals of using the free and low-cost advertising platform for small businesses.

Tell Us About Operating Costs Impacting Your NYC Small Business

The NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) is looking to identify the specific financial challenges small businesses face in their operation. 

Required Signs for NYC Restaurants

Restaurant Resource Guide

Latest news for restaurant owners.

Commercial Lease Assistance

Free legal services to help eligible businesses with signing a new commercial lease; amending, renewing, or terminating an existing commercial lease; or addressing a commercial lease-related issue.

Hiring, Onboarding & Training Playbook

Best practices guide for retaining employees

NYC Business Express Service Team (NYC BEST)

Get connected to a single point person to help you get licenses and permits faster and avoid/reduce fines and violations.

NYC Business Solutions Centers

Access free legal assistance, business courses, financing assistance, and more. Visit maps.nyc.gov/sbs to find an NYC Business Solutions Center in your borough.

NYC Funds Finder

NYC's first-ever online funding marketplace for small businesses.

NYC Care

NYC CARE is a health care access program that guarantees low-cost and no-cost services offered by NYC Health + Hospitals to New Yorkers who do not qualify for or cannot afford health insurance.

NYS Secure Choice Savings Program

A retirement savings program for private-sector employees who are not offered a retirement plan through their workplace. Program is under development.

SBS Hotline 888-SBS-4NYC (888-727-4692)

Answers small business owners' most pressing questions and connects you to other SBS services. Services are available in multiple languages.

SBS Social Media Toolkit

Approved language and graphics to share information about SBS programs and initiatives with your networks!

About the Food and Beverage Industry Partnership

The NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS)’s NYC Food and Beverage Industry Partnership team acts as a convener to drive alignment and collaboration among NYC foodservice industry stakeholders. With input from our advisory groups, we lead strategic thinking to guide city investment in industry-informed services and resources. We work to identify new, actionable ways the city can demonstrate its commitment to support NYC’s food and beverage businesses and workers.

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